Dobson's two families bid her farewell

Whataburger's first lady laid to rest

More than 550 mourners packed St. Luke's United Methodist Church
Tuesday to say goodbye to Whataburger matriarch Grace Dobson, who died
Thursday.

As a young woman, a wife, a mother, a businesswoman and finally a
grandmother, Dobson, 80, was a fine measure of her name in everything
she did, friends and family said.

"She just stood for integrity," daughter Lynne Dobson said before
the service. "She had elegant integrity. She always did the right
thing. She loved her family and that included her Whataburger
family."

When her husband, Whataburger founder Harmon Dobson was killed in a
1967 plane crash, Dobson took the reins of Whataburger, despite offers
from outsiders to buy the company. She did so because her late husband
wanted the company to go forward, friends said.

"It was one mans dream carried forward by one womans heart.
The world is a better place because Grace Dobson passed through."

"She fought when Harmon passed on," said Preston Atkinson,
Whataburger executive vice president and chief operating officer,
fighting back tears. "She said it would be a slap in his face to turn
tail and run. It was one man's dream carried forward by one woman's
heart. The world is a better place because Grace Dobson passed
through."

There was a lot of softness mixed with her tenacity, too, said the
Rev. Charles Graff.

"Despite her business success, her life was centered in family and
faith," Graff said.

It was a point driven home as a video tribute of Dobson family
photos flashed across the church's video screen.

Many mourners cried openly at the poignant pictures of Dobson's
80-year life.

Grace as a young woman. Grace with friends. Grace standing in front
of an airplane with Harmon. Grace with her three children. And Grace
cavorting with the grandchildren she obviously adored.

The Rev. Bobbie Kay Jones spoke of the message Dobson's son-in-law
Greg Wooldridge wrote in the card for her 80th and final birthday in
May.

"Gracie, not only are you aging gracefully," he wrote. "You are
simply ageless in your grace."